


Out After Dark

by WrestleCrazyGamer



Category: Original Work
Genre: Gen, Monsters, Potential Horror, Potential Suspense, Spirits, Supernatural Elements
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-25
Updated: 2020-07-26
Packaged: 2021-03-06 05:55:18
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,428
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25508584
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WrestleCrazyGamer/pseuds/WrestleCrazyGamer
Summary: Aiyumi Kawakami is a young girl who goes to investigate a supposedly haunted shrine as part of a school project. After finding a statue of Amaterasu in dragon form holding a sphere, and breaking said sphere by accident, all hell breaks loose as the townspeople begin disappearing in the night. It then becomes up to her to find the broken pieces of the sphere and get the missing people back...





	1. Looming Darkness

Aiyumi Kawakami is a young girl no older than twelve. She always ties back her upper back length caramel brown hair in a ponytail. She has to wear glasses due to somewhat poor vision as well. Despite having many friends in her school, she is quite soft spoken and does not carry conversations longer than she needs to. She is quite content being an earpiece for her friends to talk to or vent with. She has a sixteen year old older sister, Reika Kawakami, who often tries to convince her to be more vocal with her opinions...but Aiyumi just doesn’t see any reason to do so.

Aiyumi and Reika both have model grades and attendance records. One would never suspect them to have family troubles. Their mother, Fumiko Kawakami, absolutely despises their father, Ryoji Shimura. If given the chance she will rave for hours to the sisters how horrible a man their father is. Often Reika will object to her claims, but Aiyumi does not know who to believe at all. Their parents got divorced and their mother changed all of their names to her family name when she was still a baby that was too young to remember what their father was like. Her mother had forbidden her from so much as going near her father’s place of work too.

One day in school, Aiyumi was given a group assignment with three fellow students to investigate one of many supposedly haunted locations in town. Their given area was the old abandoned Amaterasu Shrine on top of the hill at the edge of town. Aiyumi, not one to fuss very much with plans for these projects, didn’t mind that they wanted to check out the shrine during the day first. Following them up the stairs really took the wind out of her, but she made it to the top. There she saw how dilapidated the shrine really was. It was very obvious that no one had visited this place in ages. There were leaves all over the place and the main building was in shambles.

“Come on, let’s go check inside.” the group leader nodded, flinging open the front doors.

“Hope the floor doesn’t fall out from under us…” the second student sighed.

“Aiyumi, come on, slow poke!” the third waved at her.

“Coming.” she replied, managing to catch her breath.

Inside was even worse for wear than outside. Any furniture within had plastic coverings on them. Parts of the floor had fallen in too making them have to watch their step. In the center of the inner courtyard was where the shrine to the goddess lay. It was moss covered and the red rope on it was faded and worn. The donation box at its base was completely empty. Engraved on a small wooden tablet hanging from the box read “Donate 50 Yen To Make A Wish”.

“Wow, that’s dirt cheap. How’d this place stop getting donations?” the group leader whistled.

“Hey, should we each make a wish while we’re here?” the second student asked.

“It’d be respectful at the least, since we’re intruding for a school project.” the third nodded.

“Is it intruding…? I mean, we have permission to be here for the investigation. Or do you mean like we’re disrespecting Amaterasu for coming into the shrine without announcing ourselves?” the group leader pondered aloud.

While they talked, Aiyumi thought long and hard about a wish. When she finally had one, she tossed a coin into the donation box and put her hands together to silently wish. When she was done she gave a satisfied nod.

“What’d you wish for, Aiyumi?” the group leader asked.

“Secret.” she shook her head.

“Everyone knows that if you say what your wish is it’ll never come true.” the second student giggled.

“Yep. So lips sealed on our wishes.” the third nodded.

“Fine, fine.”

Aiyumi was then asked to inspect the basement floors of the temple while they searched above. Taking a flashlight with her, she found that it was extremely dusty. If no one had been to the main temple in years, how long had it been since someone was down here? There were various antiques and holy scrolls in boxes and on shelves. Being down there gave her the willies though, as if something were watching her every move. Now and then she couldn’t help herself and checked her back to make sure she was alone. This basement had an atmosphere she had never experienced before.

It wasn’t long before she came upon a screen door. She knew she was going to have to go in. She needed to for the report. Touching the wooden indention for opening it, the wood felt almost ready to break if she applied too much pressure. Aiyumi carefully slid open the door and inside she jumped as the first thing to meet her eyes was a suit of samurai armor. After making sure her heart didn’t explode, she carefully went inside the room. This entire room was decorated with antique feudal weaponry and armor. There was also an extremely dusty statue of the goddess amaterasu in dragon form, indicated by the plaque on the pedestal piece. In her mouth was a sparkling red sphere. Somehow it felt like the statue was staring right at her.

“There you are!” the group leader shouted behind her.

The sudden voice made Aiyumi jump, turning around and backing up...right into the statue. It wobbled left, right, left, right, left, right, and left until it fell over...but didn’t break. Aiyumi and the group leader scrambled to put it back up, checking for damage after. They sighed with relief finding not a scratch on it...until the jaw suddenly fell off, shattering the sphere on the floor into nine pieces.

“No!” Aiyumi gasped.

“We are so in trouble…” the group leader groaned.

The group leader decided to pretend it was like that when they got there. He closed the door behind them and escorted Aiyumi back upstairs. When they would come back after dark they were going to pretend they never went in there. Once they were gone, the eyes of the statue lit up red as purple mist began to rise from the orb fragments…

Aiyumi couldn’t stop thinking about the accident while she packed supplies into her backpack for the night investigation. How much trouble were they going to be in for breaking something sacred as a statue of a goddess? Was she going to be expelled? How would her mother take it? It was on her mind even after her group came to pick her up. Her trail of thought was interrupted the moment they got to the stairs of the shrine. It felt almost as if the many gates along the stairs were glaring at them.

“Well. Let’s go.” the group leader cleared his throat.

Proceeding up the stairs felt more arduous than before. This time looking at the main building sent shivers down their spines as well. Inside felt nauseating to them now. There was definitely something wrong with this place. Aiyumi couldn’t help herself and went downstairs to see the statue. The feeling she was being watched was much stronger than before. She could swear she was hearing footsteps behind her as well, making her check nearly twice as often. Her heart was pounding harder than before as she opened the sliding door. The room was the same as before… but the fragments of the sphere were gone, leaving just Amaterasu’s jaw on the floor. She nervously picked up the jaw piece and then got super glue out of her pack along with a clamp that she borrowed from her sister. Super gluing the jaw back on, she used the clamp to keep it in place.

“That should do the trick. I apologize for causing damage to your visage.” Aiyumi smiled, bowing to the statue.

“ _ Look out! _ ”

As if someone shoved her, she launched herself to the left hitting the deck. Mere seconds after she hit the floor something smashed through the wall busting the statue apart. Shining her flashlight, she gasped flinching. Staring at her through the line busted through the wall and door stood a seven foot red skinned oni. Its white fangs were as monstrous as tales told of, its horns were simply massive, and its gaze told of its hunger. It was dressed only in gold anklets and bracelets with a hide skirt. Its long black hair only made it more intimidating. In its grip was a crudely fashioned steel cleaver nearly as long as itself. She couldn’t be seeing things could she?

“ _ Don’t just sit there! Run! _ ”

Now it definitely felt like someone was moving her as she sprung to her feet and shoved her toward the oni as something invisible smacked it to the side. It felt like something else was making Aiyumi’s legs move as she broke into a sprint. She could hear her classmates scream as her legs carried her out of the shrine. Once outside she could see them everywhere, spirits, dancing and laughing, as she ran down the stairs. She inevitably tripped, causing her to roll down to the bottom. She’d lost her glasses in the fall, but her legs didn’t stop and made her get up to keep running. There were spirits all over town. She didn’t stop until she got inside her home, slamming the door behind her before her legs at last no longer felt possessed.

“Aiyumi? What are you slamming the door for? Hold on a second, you’re bleeding! What happened?!” her sister gasped, coming to see the source of the noise.

Aiyumi tried to recall what happened as clearly as she could for Reika while she treated her cuts and scrapes. Naturally she didn’t believe her. Who would ever believe what she saw? Reika put her right to bed, making sure she had some pain medicine for her wounds. Once her adrenaline wears off those are bound to sting.

When morning came, her group mates didn’t show up to school. In fact, there were a few people who’d gone missing in the night as well according to the news. Aiyumi knew this was somehow connected to that sphere breaking. Breaking it must have freed those spirits somehow, or was this Amaterasu’s anger at her statue being broken? What she did know is that at night the town is no longer safe… but she would have to venture out if she wanted any hope of getting back the missing people...


	2. The Grinding of Gears

When sunset began to come around, Aiyumi hurried to pack her backpack with everything she thought she’d need. Snacks, extra clothes, spare batteries for her flashlight, salt like she’d seen in so many movies, and a map of town. She knew without a good reason her mother wouldn’t let her out though, so after making a bed double to make her mother think she’s still in her room she used the tree outside of her window to sneak out. She didn’t dare make a sound until she was a good distance from the house.

“Forgive me mom… but I have to.” she whispered, nodding to herself.

Her first destination was clear - the temple. She had to be absolutely sure that no shards were left behind there. The path was more frightening than usual though. Now and then she would spot spirits and have to take a detour. After what felt like hours, she arrived at those steps again. They somehow didn’t feel as malevolent as before, making ascending them easier on her. Once at the top, the shrine looked somehow even worse than before. Entering the shrine proper, there were definitely signs of that oni that attacked her before being here - namely massive slashes and breaks in the floors and walls. Going down into the basement, she felt nauseous again. It was like when the spirits first appeared all over again.

Her flashlight also didn’t seem to shine as far into the darkness this time. Proceeding as carefully and as quietly as possible to the room, she scanned the floor for sphere shards. Examining the room itself, it looked like a struggle happened. That was strange seeing as only the oni was here, at least to her knowledge. In her examination, a glimmer of light on metal caught her eye. She gasped, fearing it to be the oni, only to find it was a thirteen inch wakizashi with seemingly sparkling blade and an ornate red and gold hilt lying in the wreckage of the Amaterasu statue. It was halfway out of its scabbard, which was pure white with decorative golden dragon engravings. Sighing with relief, she picked it up to find it felt quite light for an antique. Though she had to question what it was doing inside of the statue. Holding it somehow made her feel safe in the dark.

“ _ Do you hear me? _ ” a whisper spoke in the dark.

“Who’s there…?” Aiyumi asked, her voice trembling.

“ _ Are you afraid of me? _ ” the whisper asked.

“I-I asked a question…” she whimpered, too scared to turn around.

“ _ You don’t have to be afraid of me. I am here to help you. _ ” the whisper told her.

“Why…?” she nervously asked.

“ _ You broke the Orb of Yomi, but you chose to come back to try and fix your mistake… so I have appeared to help you. _ ” the whisper answered.

“D-Do you know where the pieces of the orb are…?” Aiyumi asked.

“ _ I do. You will need this blade to retrieve them, but know that it cannot banish the evil spirits for good in its current state. Without the Orb of Yomi, it is only an ordinary sacred blade and they will return after a time. It will not work on more powerful spirits like that oni either. _ ” the voice instructed.

“A sacred blade can be ordinary…?” she questioned skeptically.

“ _Oh no…_ _It has noticed that you are here. Run, before it can catch you. You are the only one who can gather the shards._ ” the voice warned.

Aiyumi then turned around and rolled forward evading a swing from the oni and it leapt from the shadows, howling with sadistic joy when its blade met the wall. She then broke into a dead sprint, clutching the sacred blade. She could hear the oni stomping and swinging its blade after her, howling all the while. Its blade almost nicked her leg making her lean into her sprint in an attempt to go faster. Not watching her step, she once again fell and rolled down the temple stairs. When she opened her eyes she wasn’t sure if she’d been knocked unconscious or not from the fall. 

Standing a few inches from her face was a small glowing blue spirit with stubby limbs, pure white eyes, and a small pure white mouth. On its head serving as a hat was what looked to be a blue china teacup. It emitted a high pitched “kuu!” as he held out a pair of glasses - her glasses that she’d lost. She wasn’t sure how to react, so she calmly sat up and graciously accepted her glasses back. Putting them on, the left lense was cracked. She’d have been more surprised if they weren’t damaged. She had replacement lenses at home she could put in, but that could wait for now. When she went to thank the spirit, it was already gone.

“Well, thank you anyway. I can see better now.” Aiyumi nodded, hoping her words reached the spirit.

Getting up, she pulled out her town map to find several points on it glowing with a pink light. That had to be where the shards are located! The closest was at the high school. Without a moment to lose, she ran the gauntlet of spirits to head that way. With the front gates locked, she’d have to go in the secret way - the Path of Courage, as the high school kids call it. It is a path through the woods passing through an old graveyard ending at a secret hole in the fence around the school. Naturally, this path was also littered with spirits. Surprisingly though, there were no large ones. Spirits that refused to move she gave a light jab with the sacred blade causing them to burst into a cloud of purple smoke, letting out a deafening shriek of agony in the process. Fearing that would alert other spirits to her, she picked up her pace.

Arriving at the graveyard, the gates were closed but thankfully not locked. The gates made a loud scraping creak as she pushed them open just enough to slip through. Those gates could really have done with some maintenance, as the left one about fell off its hinges once she was done. Passing through, she could see the spirits of the deceased moaning as they floated about the graveyard. Some were grumbling about their regrets in life. Others cursed the name of those who were more successful than them. Halfway through a sound like quick footsteps startled her into looking all around, but couldn’t find a source. All at once, the footsteps stopped… and she could feel something staring right at her back. Slowly, like a rusty machine, she turned around...to find a cat sitting on a headstone. Its fur was jet black with grey patches here and there. Its eyes seemed to glow in the dark.

“Meow.”

“It’s just a cat…” she sighed with relief.

“It’s ‘just’ a cat? Rather disrespectful, aren’t you?” the cat suddenly talked, making her seize up.

“A  _ talking _ cat…?” Aiyumi questioned.

“No ordinary talking cat. I was buried in a very shallow grave after dying mere hours ago. What a way to treat a loyal house pet of sixteen years. I at least deserved a headstone  _ and  _ a properly dug grave. My animosity for their disrespect to my body turned me into this.” the cat huffed, showing that it in fact had two tails.

“A…  _ demon _ cat?” she asked, looking more confused.

“Nekomata, I believe the term is for what I am. I left the son of the family alone as he always cuddles me when I ask, feeds me on time without ever being late, and lets me have a few morsels from his plate now and then. That hag of a mother of his made quite a tasty treat… and his father had better behave or I may want dessert.” the cat snickered.

“Um… do you know the way to the hole in the school fence by chance…?” Aiyumi asked the nekomata.

“That old thing? Of course I do. The high school cheerleading team loves it when I come around to let them pet me. It is far too much effort to leap the fence, so it is quite convenient.” the nekomata giggled, grooming its front left paw.

“If it isn’t too much trouble, would you be willing to take me there…?” she requested.

“Hmm… but why would any self-respecting yokai do anything for free…? What can you offer me for this deed…?” the nekomata asked.

“Um… uh…”

“Heh, your troubled face is quite exquisite. I will tell you what… I will take you there if you can silence that incessant grinding from the school clock tower. It is the dead of night and it is a force of habit from my previous life to sleep at this hour. I simply cannot sleep with it doing that.” the nekomata offered.

“Deal.” she nodded.

Aiyumi didn’t know if she could actually silence it, but she was getting a guide to the path. One thing this spirit said bothered her though. How did she eat a grown woman if she is this small…? After a grotesque image came to her head she dismissed the question and pretended she never questioned it at all. After a short ways out of the graveyard, sure enough, they came to the fence. There was a rather large bush in front of it that the nekomata easily passed through.

“This way, child. Mind the thistles growing underneath.” the nekomata called to her.

Aiyumi took a deep breath before getting on her hands and knees to crawl under the bush. She soon found the hole she was looking for and crawled through. Just as she hoped she was on the school side of the fence. There was no sign of the nekomata, but the jingling of the fence alerted her to it standing on the top of it.

“Remember our deal, child. Or it will be  _ you _ who is my dessert.” the nekomata giggled before hopping down and trotting into the dark of the woods.

Aiyumi couldn’t help noticing a distinct lack of spirits on the courtyard of the school. None of the doors were open, so she began checking all of the windows for one that was unlocked. It seemed hopeless as all the windows in her reach were locked. When she went to move away from one window a desk crashed through the window nearly smacking her, causing her to scream falling over. Nervously looking inside, all of the desks were a total mess. In fact, it looked like something had shoved them all aside to flee the room. Using the sword scabbard to carefully knock any glass away from the window sill first, she then climbed into the classroom. Now that she was inside she could indeed hear the very faint grinding of gears. It had to be the school’s clock tower - maybe the shard was there?

Being inside of the high school was so foreign to Aiyumi. The only time she’d been here before was for Reika’s dance performance in the culture festival. Being here at night made it look like the entire school was a hall of horror. The windows all had a slight fog to them, the walls had bloody handprints on them here and there, and the floorboards seemed to creek and ache with each step. A sound startled Aiyumi into dropping her flashlight for a second…

**_Bing Bong Ding Dong_ **

It was the PA system.

“ **Testing. Testing! Is this thing on? Well, well, look what we have here… A would-be heroine eh? Just what do you hope to accomplish against the evil spirits of this town with that glorified butter knife? I simply cannot wait to see! Taking all bets, ghosts and ghouls, will she overcome the odds and claim an orb fragment or die a horrible gruesome death falling into the fiery pits of Yomi…?** ” a staticky voice spoke.

**_Ding Dong Bing Bong_ **

“Is there someone in the PA room…? Maybe there’s a map of the school somewhere so I can figure it out...” she questioned.

Navigating around the spirits in the school was harder than outside, as there wasn’t as much room to maneuver. There were more solid spirits around too with a purple mist about them, meaning that jabbing them with the sacred blade is very ill advised. She’d need to take care not to be noticed by them as well. Her search for a map brought her to the second floor hall where she found one at the bulletin board, but it wasn’t held there with thumbtacks. It had bloody knives run through the corners. She very nervously pulled the knives out to retrieve the map. Each one’s handle was ice cold, like it’d been in the snow or a freezer for many hours. Each knife vanished once it touched the floor.

“Okay, the PA room is… on the third floor.” she observed.

A loud howl made her about leave her skin. That howl was followed by the sound of glass smashing on the floor below. She knew that howl anywhere. It was the oni - it’d followed her! On the floor below she could hear its blade dragging on the floor! Panic firing through her, she made for the quickest staircase as safely as she could. Going up the stairs was a very frightening experience. Aiyumi already wasn’t a fan of spiders, but looking cozy on the ceiling of the staircase were two arachne. She had to be extra quiet not to alert them to her presence, even with the sounds of the Oni coming closer. Following the map she soon arrived at the PA room. When she tried to go inside the door was locked though.

**_Bing Bong Ding Dong_ **

“ **Sorry little miss heroine, but I’m afraid that only honored guests are allowed inside the studio. You have a crowd to entertain...so why not play some music?** ” the voice cackled.

**_Ding Dong Bing Bong_ **

The moment she turned, the oni burst through the floor howling as Aiyumi screamed falling backward. She backed up a bit before scrambling to her feet to book it. The oni was in hot pursuit, swinging its blade wildly causing heavy damage to the nearby walls. Many spirits tried to swing at Aiyumi making her bob and weave through the hall, causing the spirits to hit the oni instead making it angry. The oni soon began slaughtering the other spirits that’d hit it by mistake, allowing her to escape into one of the many classrooms to hide under a podium. The oni’s howl wailed and screamed as sounds of destruction could be heard. Its footsteps then began stomping around in a huff, hunting her down. She waited until the footsteps were gone to come out, though she didn’t dare make any loud noise. The sound of a piano key made her heart almost explode from shock. Looking over, she found she was in the music room where a high school girl was playing the piano.

“Um… hello…?” Aiyumi nervously addressed the girl.

“Someone can see me…?” the high schooler questioned.

When she looked over Aiyumi froze. Her eyes were black voids with blood running down from the sockets! Now that she got a better look, her skin was an unhealthy bluish hue!

“A g-g-g-g-g-g-g-ghost girl?!” Aiyumi cried, covering her mouth quickly after.

“I am not like the others...at least not yet. I have managed to cling to what remains of my soul’s humanity thanks to this piano. I often played it before I was murdered by my teacher.” the ghost told her.

“Do you… know how I can stop the clock tower from making noise?” Aiyumi asked her.

“There is a lever inside. I would not go in there if I were you though… You  _ will _ die...” the ghost warned.

“I appreciate your warning, but I have to.” Aiyumi told her, bowing respectfully.

“Well, it is your death. You can decide how you go out. There is one thing you will need to actually stop the clock’s gears. There is a master key in the principal’s office.” the ghost told her.

When Aiyumi felt it was safe, she ventured into the hall once more. Following her map she made for the third floor where the principal’s office is located. The door to the office lobby was already smashed open, likely by the oni or something else, so the door being locked wouldn’t be a problem. Inside almost made Aiyumi faint. There was a dead body of a man slumped against the wall. His throat had been slashed by a pair of scissors. She knew this because the offending pair had also been stabbed into the left shoulder. Shakily, she approached the door of the principal’s room and went inside. The window was shattered here as well, letting the wind of night make the curtains flutter. Searching the desk drawers she couldn’t find a key of any sort. Where could it be?

Checking the top of the desk she noticed a picture of a man shaking the hand of a female student as she graduated. It was the man that’d been murdered! That meant the corpse...must be the now former principal. That also put a disturbing thought into her head. She was going to have to search him for the key if it wasn’t in here. She very slowly exited back into the office proper and stared at the body for a few moments. She really didn’t want to do this. Kneeling down by him she very shakily searched his pockets. Wallet, pocket knife, handkerchief, old flip phone, key ring - but no key that looked out of the ordinary. That was until she got a bad look at his neck wound - there was something glimmering there that had a distinct brass color. She closed her eyes tight as she whimpered, forcing herself to pull it out. It was a windup key of some kind. Using the handkerchief she cleaned it off and put it in her pack.

“That’s going to haunt me, among other things…” she whimpered.

She then nervously followed the map to the door leading into the clock tower. Once inside she could barely think, the gears were grinding that loud. Looking at the clock faces high above, the hands were going haywire. She proceeded from the main part of the floor up the stairs to a room full of controls. There she found a really long lever on the floor, likely the one the ghost was talking about. In the main control console there was a small circular slot marked “override” - that had to be the key slot! Slipping the key in and turning it, slow cogs and gears outside the room began to slow down. She then examined the lever to know which direction does what, and then with some effort pulled it backward to shut everything down. Some of the gears and cogs took longer to stop than others.

When she went back down to the main floor of the clock tower everything seemed at peace. The clock faces had reset to midnight, so maybe that was why some of the mechanisms didn’t stop immediately. When she went to leave a strange black and red ivy covered the door as the entire building seemed to shake and sway. Gears and cogs busted loose from the upper mechanisms falling down nearly crushing her.

“W-What’s happening?!” she screamed, inevitably losing her footing.

“ **WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO STOOOOOOOOOOPPED MYYYYYYY GEEEEEAAAAAAARS????!!!!** ” a shrill echoing voice screamed.

A massive demon then dropped down from the dark above, slamming down hard enough to make Aiyumi lose her footing all over again. The monster before her was absolutely hideous. Its balding head was far too small in proportion to its grotesquely obese body, and speaking of its body there was a simply huge second mouth on it lined with pure white teeth and rosey red lips. All over its body were faces of agonized people. The creature supported itself on ten grotesquely disproportionate red arms. It also had two very large grotesque muscular arms. Aiyumi about lost her dinner just looking at it. Sparkling in the forehead of the beast she spotted it - a fragment of the Orb of Yomi!

“ **WAS IT YOU???!!! DID YOU STOP MY GEARS???!!! THAT GLORIOUS, GLORIOUS MUSIC!!! NONE CAN COMPARE!!! NONE OF THEM COULD RECREATE THE SOUND!!! THEY ALL NEEDED TO HEAR IT!!! YOU WILL HEAR ITS BEAUTY TOO!!!** ” the demon screamed, flailing about.

“ _ Careful Aiyumi. This is a Malevolent Spirit, possessed by the fragment of the orb. He’s attained far more power than he naturally would. When you find the opening, you have to cut the fragment out. Try not to damage it if you can. _ ” the guiding voice told her.

Aiyumi had some trouble keeping her footing, but was somehow able to maneuver as the massive ghoul stomped and slammed around trying to get at her. More gears and cogs began to fall as the stomping went on. That gave Aiyumi an idea. She began running up the stairs prompting it to go stomping up after her. The shaking had more and more gears coming loose and falling. Its arms nearly grabbed her several times, but the shaking also made her more slippery and harder to predict. Along the staircase are occasional balcony platforms. Before she could do anything though, the spirit grabbed her as it flew off the platform starting to plummet back down to the main floor of the room.

“ **I’VE GOT YOU NOW!!!** ” it screamed.

When the beast landed, the impact was enough to make it let go of Aiyumi sending her sliding across the room. The huge belly mouth then spewed a green liquid at her that she barely dodged. Looking where it hit, the ground began to be rotted away - she definitely didn’t want to get hit by that. Looking back to the creature, two of its arms were bent in a way that arms are not meant to bend with bone sticking out. Even despite the injuries, it continued to chase her up the clock tower. Now and then it would spew more rotting fluid at her making her have to dodge. Some of the bigger cogs were starting to fall too, busting some of the path making it harder to climb. One of those big gears happened to slam down on the beast causing it to plummet, screaming, down to the ground level again. She watched it struggle under the gear trying to get it off, so she took that time to continue her ascent.

At the top she found various spare parts for the clock, most of which had already fallen in the struggle. Among those parts was a spare little hand for the clock faces. That gave her a marvelous idea. If her sword is no good, then maybe something bigger will be. It took almost all of her strength to lift it, finding it to be heavier than it looks, and began to carry it to the edge. Looking down below her knees almost gave in on her. The beast then escaped the gear and screeched making a gargantuan leap up to her. She then struggled a bit and then managed to huck the clock hand off the platform. It skewered the ghoul in its big ugly mouth smashing it down on the floor pinning it there as a putrid blackish red blood splashed all over the floor. Descending to it, she drew the sacred blade and nervously stabbed it into the demon’s head to begin trying to pop out the orb fragment like one would pop something free of plastic. After some working she finally got it out causing more of the blood to begin spewing out.

Backing up with the fragment now in hand, it wasn’t long before the entire floor was covered in blood even with it leaking down into the holes in the floor. The demon slowly but surely shrunk down until it was the size of a simple man in a suit.

“My… gears… my beautiful… gears… the music… recreate… the music…” the spirit left behind moaned.

The music room ghost then appeared, to Aiyumi’s surprise. Then even more ghosts of students began to appear. It wasn’t long before a mob of thirty spirits appeared, each wielding a sharp object of some sort.

“Teacher… the gears are silent, and you no longer have the power to hold us here. We’re going to pass on at sunrise, but before then… we are each going to put our grudges to an end. You are dead like us, so we don’t have to hold back or worry about killing you…” the piano girl ghost spoke in a cold, unfeeling tone.

Aiyumi slowly backed out of the room as the ghosts of the students slowly stepped toward the man. Her trip out of the school was haunted by the agonized screams of the former demon as divine retribution was carried out. Once outside, she could see that the school was a wreck. Putting the orb fragment into her backpack, Aiyumi let out a sigh of satisfaction. That was cut short by the hairs on the back of her neck standing up, proceeded by the oni grabbing her by the neck from behind lifting her high up off the ground. 

The oni laughed hysterically and howled with joy as he shook her around like a ragdoll. Aiyumi struggled as hard as she could, but its grasp was like a vice. She tried using the sacred blade, but it was bouncing off like rubber on cement. It then slammed her down hard on the ground and began raising its blade, murderous intent in its eyes as it smiled wide. She fully expected to die, but something saved her… suddenly the oni was gone. Daylight was shining over the horizon and just in the nick of time - dawn had just saved her life.

Shakily getting up, coughing as she got the ability to breathe back. Looking at the school, it was magically repaired. It was as if that battle hadn’t happened in the first place. With her job done, and dawn happening, she began to walk home. It wasn’t long until one of the adults who works an early morning shift spotted her and made sure she got home safe. Naturally, her mother was absolutely livid that she’d been out all night when she thought she was asleep like a good girl. Even Reika was surprised by this assumed delinquent behavior.

“My glasses were super expensive… so I went to go find them so you didn’t have to replace them.” was what Aiyumi told them, knowing they wouldn’t believe her if she told them about the spirits and demons.

Reika treated her wounds while their mother had a smoke to stop herself from having a stroke. Aiyumi was then put to bed to rest, because she was in no shape to go to school. Her mother then proceeded to rant for what felt like hours about how she raised her better, and then proceeded to blame her father and “his genes” for an actual two hours, she kept track that time. Any time something remotely bad happens with her or Reika, that was usually her go-to excuse. Aiyumi wasn’t even allowed to form her own opinion of her father. Reika could argue with their mother for hours that she’s a liar and slanders their father for no reason. The only time their mother could go uncontested is when Reika’s at school, like today.

When her mother finally left her alone, she pulled the orb shard from her backpack and examined it. If the shard was this small, there had to be at least nine more or so. That was assuming they’re all the same size though. She wanted to go back out once night falls, but she knew that her current condition made that a bad idea. She was regrettably going to have to wait for a bit...


End file.
